I think it’s fair to say Superman & Lois has been a stellar debut for the CW. I, for one, welcome my new Kent overlords because Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch are quickly becoming my favourite live action Lois and Clark. It took me a while to really get on that bandwagon (I did like Hoechlin’s Superman in Supergirl, but as we all know I retired from comic books because of how much I hated their second season), but I am fully sold on this show so far. I even got my boyfriend, who is otherwise non-plussed about superheroes, to watch the pilot and it made him cry, so I consider that an absolute win.
Superman & Lois‘s fourth episode, “Haywire,” is something of a change in pace towards your average superhero on TV plotting, but in a way that I argue keeps the show’s positives at the forefront. Read on for my full Five Thoughts on the episode below, but, as always, spoilers follow. Duh.
1. Shortstack On The Field
I mentioned last week that I appreciated the way Jordan’s try-out wasn’t shot in this perfect, CW-ified sunny football field in the middle of the perfect summer day like our conceptions of these kinds of American network TV shows might have us expect. Sure, there’s a place for that kind of set dressing, but I can’t pretend like this episode opening (after a brief if ultimately rather resolution-less cold open) on Jordan’s first game in the pouring rain. Now, I don’t know what the weather in Kansas is actually like, but I have to assume it’s fair more true to life for there to be nights of shitty weather that you just have to get through because the game is on and it’s just the kind of creative decisions I like to see in these stories.
Those are things I like picking up on in this show because when it comes down to talking about the story and characters and acting, all of it stems from how we’re shown what’s happening and what the characters are going through. Jordan’s first game feels like a real first game: they’re down and out and they’re not cohering and their heads aren’t in the game and one solid play from one lucky kid gets them over the line. They celebrate and then the next day the coach kicks their asses over all the small mistakes that lead them to that point in the game. Jordan’s game saving play isn’t the kind of thing that he gets paraded into the sunset over, but something that gives him that small jolt that affirms that, yes, this is where he wants to be. And while it may not be all together key to how this episode plays out, but I did like that it touched on Jonathan’s low level jealousy at not longer being star player.
There’s no blow out arguments over it this episode, just a quiet resentment in small moments as Jordan is praised in front of Jonathan. You can see it eating away at him, but also the noble intention as he wants to keep from ruining his brother’s time in the spotlight. It’s just those little character things that add up to how much fun I’m having with this show.
2. The Unintended Consequences Of Being Clark Kent
One of the things I keep coming back to, especially as I recommend this show to more and more people each week, is how this show handles the character of Superman. This is, actually, a much more hard edged version of Superman than we often see. He knows when to put his foot down, he knows when to stand up for himself. As the show itself points out, he’s spent so much time around Lois that a lot of her best, most stubborn qualities have rubbed off on him. It’s helped him be a better husband and a better journalist, but, most importantly, it’s now helping him be a better father and a better Superman.
We’ll get into Clark butting heads with Sam in a bit, but here I wanted to focus on the subplot involving Killgrave and Intergang. Now, they’re a solid pull in terms of side villains who never get the spotlight outside of comics because Superman is rarely adapted into another serialised medium these days. Sure, there’s been plenty of TV shows about and around Superman, but none that really embraced the late career Superman with an earnest take on his world and mythology before. Don’t @ me about Lois & Clark. Anyway, the subplot works because the power vacuum caused when Clark upped sticks and left Metropolis creates yet another push and pull conflict. Clark is always juggling his home and family life and being Superman, something that’s worked plenty well over the years, but never with this much context and drama. This isn’t Superman having to run out of the office to the save the day while making sure Lombard doesn’t notice him changing in the elevator. When Superman is pinned down by Killgrave, his sons are in danger. You’re not thinking, as the audience, “Oh no! How will Superman get out of this one?” Because, frankly, it’s Superman. Of course he’s going to get out of it and he won’t break a sweat.
Continued belowBut his kids are in trouble. And if he doesn’t end this now, if they get hurt it’s his fault. So when he swings, he swings hard. There’s a moment here, it’s small, but Superman’s takedown of Killgrave hits civilians. Likely minor bangs and bruises, nothing serious, but still. Superman doesn’t put civilians in harm’s way, right? But he did here. And he just… leaves. Leaves Sam to clean up the mess. Not to compare this to the other big take on live action Superman of recent years, but, well, Justice League is out tomorrow and it’s on my mind. This small moment does more for me than Superman killing Zod because it’s exactly that. It’s small. It’s not an earth shattering decision that changes his life, but it does illustrate how much the character’s priorities have changed. It’s the swell in the tide, those far off dominos still falling long after the first piece has been knocked. Everything is different now and it’ll be a while before it settles into place.
3. Edging Into Smallville
Morgan Edge being a direct counter to Lois Lane is probably my favourite choice in this entire show so far and, to be honest with you, that’s saying a lot. Yes, I’m very smitten with this show and everything it’s doing, but it just clicks for me. Lois often follows in Clark’s wake, having some subplot that involves tracking down information that ultimately is only there to give her something to do while Superman punches things. There’s been a lot of lipservice paid to how feisty and hard headed Lois Lane is over the years, but when it comes to stories that actually show that in action and having her genuinely contribute to the overall story and themes in a meaningful way, those are few and far between.
See, the thing about Morgan Edge is that his presence as an antagonist isn’t about whatever his plan is. The big X-Kryptonite reveal? Not as important as the assembly, or ever his dinner with Lana. This show understands pretty keenly that whatever his elaborate plan for the X-Kryptonite is is nothing more than an end to which his villainous means are attempting to achieve. Morgan Edge isn’t the bad guy because he wants to kill Superman and rule the world or whatever. Morgan Edge is the bad guy because he’s a billionaire corporate capitalist exploiting a small town by preying on their fears and convincing them he’s their saviour while knowing he’ll leave them to rot when he takes what he wants. He’s a bad guy because that dinner he had with Lana was skeevy as hell and anyone who can see through his charade knows that’s exactly how he acts in every interaction. He is a man who covets power above all else and will trample on anyone to get it. That’s how you write a villain.
So when it comes down to the overarching antagonistic story being woven through this series? I’m very okay with one-off Superman villains showing up to torment Clark and continue to create that pressure between his responsibilities to his family and the world while Lois tackles the real bad guy: some shady billionaire fracking in the backwoods.
4. Fathers and Grandfathers
Sam Lane should be a bit part. He should show up to be an asshole dad to his daughter and get in the way of her love affair with Clark because he just doesn’t get him. He should be there to be a cardboard cut out of a military man who’s a Bad Dad and wants Superman out of the picture before he begrudgingly respect hims.
Thing is, all of that happened. All of that happened years ago. Now, Sam is Superman’s Father-In-Law. He is the grandfather to Superman’s two teenage sons. He is Superman’s family now, whether he likes or not. You can see in Dylan Walsh (who, for what it’s worth, I’ve never seen as anything other than the guy who wasn’t Doctor Doom on nip/tuck) how long it must have taken him to get to a place where even if he’s not comfortable with it, he accepts it. He understands the responsibility that is afforded with being that close within Superman’s social circle and what it means for the world if he doesn’t use that for what he believes to be the greatest good.
Continued belowBut that’s the thing. He sees his role not as the father-in-law of Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet, who moonlights as Superman. He sees his role as liaison to Superman on behest of the U.S. Army under the guise that he is the father-in-law of Clark Kent, the secret identity of the world’s most famous superhero. It’s this subtle shift in the perspective the two of them have on their relationship that creates such fascinating drama. Clark is looking at Sam for support, from one father to another, in a time in which he feels like he is failing his family and his worst fears are coming true while Sam is looking at Superman putting the lives of his daughter and grandchildren in jeopardy as well as the safety of the entire world in order to lessen his time being Superman.
You can see already the gears turning in Sam’s head as he ponders Luthor’s warning about Superman. This world’s Clark may not be a violent, dictatorial alien warlord, but he’s got the potential. We’ve seen his change in attitude. And it might just be Sam acting out of what he genuinely believes is in the best interests of the world and his family that could put him over that edge. That’s drama. That’s damn good telly.
5. Smallville-Ass Plot
I try to stay away from looking at other people talking critically about this show because I don’t want consensus influencing my opinion. I think it makes for worse criticism overall, but I did catch one headline while I googled to double check that a new episode did, in fact, air last night and it mentioned this episode being a misstep for falling into the CWverse’s worst tendencies. I’m paraphrasing, of course, but that was the jist of it and, on a certain level, I can’t disagree. However, I think I can argue the merits of this far more comic book-y episode than we’ve seen previously on this show.
For one, while, yes, Jordan and Jonathan’s subplot having their first brush with an outside with powers show up because of their high school drama is a page lifted straight out of Smallville, I think it was handled pretty well. It is, however, yet another antagonistic character who is a man of colour and that is a problem noted with this show; but I think there’s a little bit more going on under the surface here. Tag isn’t the bad guy here. He’s an innocent bystander whose circle crossed just enough into the lives of the Kents for his life to be changed forever. That is the weight Superman’s life will always bear. That is the weight Jordan and Jonathan will always bear. This was not the story of Jonathan and Jordan confronting their first real arch villain, but a story in which an innocent is hurt because of their actions and they step in to save him, but find themselves not ready for the weight of that responsibility. Forcing them to call their dad for help, if only too late for their fear that their petty troubles are too small for the Man of Steel to tackle.
There’s a lot to unpack there in terms of how it further’s Clark’s relationship with his sons, both as a father and as Superman, and how they both fit into the lives of Superman. Does that undo the perception that, yes, this show has positioned primarily men of colour into shallowly antagonist roles at the behest of further the drama of a white family? No. And I would argue for a better awareness from the show in terms of how it casts and portrays actors of colour. I just don’t think this one’s a complete right off.
Bonus Thought: Reconciliations
I like Lana Lang in this a lot. Instead of trying to stick strictly to how she’s been portrayed in the past, the show has pretty wisely decided to cast based on who she’d be now: a mother and a wife in a struggling marriage with an okay job and a life that feels like it’s always on the brink of falling apart. Emmanuelle Chriqui is honestly incredible in the role and I was not ready to be genuinely heartwarmed by her reconciliation with her husband, Kyle, who is similarly played to perfection by Erik Valdez. Kyle isn’t a bad guy, they’ve just hit some hard times and he’s fallen for an easy lie to believe in when you’re desperate. Lana’s always been the sweet girl to see the best in everyone and juxtaposing seeing them remind themselves of their love with Clark bringing date night to the Kent family barn was just the cherry on top for me. I’m buying exactly what this show is selling.
